Wednesday, February 25, 2015

It’s called El Toque de la Luna—The Touch of the Moon. At
least that’s how nineteen-year-old Gabby’s older sister, Esperanza, refers to
the magical powers she inherited from their Mayan ancestors. Esperanza says
women with El Toque weave magic into their knitting, creating tapestries
capable of saving—or devastating—the world. Gabby thinks Esperanza is more like
touched in the head—until a man dressed like a candy corn arrives at their
Seattle home on Halloween. But “Mr. C” is far from sweet…

Soon, Gabby and her almost-more-than-friend, Frank, find
themselves spirited away to a demon ball, complete with shape shifters—and on a
mission to destroy Esperanza’s tapestries before they cause an apocalyptic
disaster… And before it’s too late to confess their true feelings for each
other.

Excerpt

A gust of wind scattered leaves across the University of
Seattle campus. My hair tangled over my face. New contacts tortured my eyes,
and books weighed down my backpack. It didn’t matter. A tornado could have
snatched me up. As long as it carried me home and put an end to the anniversary
of the worst day of my life.

“Watch out, Gabby.” My best friend Frank thrust his hands
deep into the pockets of his pinstriped suit. “We’re being followed by a giant
candy corn.”

“Giant candy corn? Yeah, right.” If I turned around, Frank
would laugh and say, “Gotcha”, or some other dorky thing. The mind-numbing
boredom of Calculus I, our last class of the day, always set Frank off, making
him zanier than usual.

“Okay, okay. Let me see this Halloween wonder.” If I didn’t
give in, Frank would never leave me alone. I whirled, ready to hear Frank’s
laugh, and almost ran into a man. His face glowed orange, like someone who’d
spent too much time in a tanning booth, and he wore a white cap pulled down to
his ears. A yellow scarf hid his neck and chin. For once, Frank wasn’t kidding.
The man resembled a giant candy corn.

Shredded paper and a postage stamp poked out of his scarf,
and a moon decorated an edge of the knitting, like one of my older sister
Esperanza’s creations. It didn’t seem possible, but no one else I knew added
garbage and a signature moon to their knitting. A wool coat covered the rest of
him, except his face and steel-tipped boots.

“Sorry.” I jumped back.

Frank’s chuckles mixed with squirrels chattering in a nearby
tree. Drizzle moistened my forehead, and a cold dampness seeped into my bones.
Everything seemed to happen in slow motion, like watching Esperanza unravel her
knitting one stitch at a time to fix a mistake.

About the author

Erin Fanning spends
her summers on a northern Michigan lake, where her imagination explores the
water and dense forest for undiscovered creatures. In the winter, she migrates
to central Idaho, exchanging mountain bikes and kayaks for skis and snowshoes.
She’s the author of Mountain Biking
Michigan, as well as numerous articles, essays, and short stories.

Thursday, February 19, 2015

In
every story, writers hope readers will root for the hero and the heroine.
They’re the main characters, the center of the story. But without other
characters, readers can’t fully understand the motivations of the hero/heroine.

That’s
one of the reasons I love antagonists. Not necessarily a villain, but someone
who doesn’t blindly follow the others. Someone who questions why the h/h do
what they do, or who may oppose them.

To me,
the antagonist is every bit as important as the hero or heroine. Without
antagonists and the conflicts they present, the main characters might not show
readers what they’re really made of.

In Twice In A Blue Moon, Hayden can be a
real jerk. He’s sarcastic, snippy and downright rude sometimes. Just as I
imagine a reality TV set to be like, with at the participants adding extra
conflict by acting out personal drama. Audiences love the conflict they
provide, and love to hate the jerks, which is one of the reasons viewers keep
tuning in week after week. So I imagine producers would love Hayden too.

Let’s
take a closer look at Hayden. He’s a video guy for the reality show No Boundaries, so it’s his job to see
everything that goes on around him. His camera adds a bit of distance to what
he sees, so it gives him a better perspective. He knows Melanie’s falling for
Buck even before she does.

I threw
in a few hints about another reason Hayden’s more attuned to Melanie than most.
He’s got a crush on her. Not head-over-heels in love, but he’s definitely In
Lust with her. His actions speak pretty loudly about this. It’s his one saving
grace.

Readers
aren’t supposed to necessarily like Hayden. But without him, Melanie might have
avoided the truth even though it was right in front of her. Hayden helped force
her to realize she had to make a decision, one that would impact her future.

Antagonists
help reveal the real character of the hero/heroine by challenging them on a
deep level. They hold up a mirror of the soul to the main character, and though
the main character might deny what s/he actually sees in that mirror,
eventually s/he has to deal with the truth.

Without
the antagonist, the story lacks an added believability and depth. I believe in
HEA, but without an antagonist, that ending would be far too easy to get to,
and a less interesting read.

How do you feel about antagonists in stories? Do you have
any favorites? Bad guys/girls you loved to hate?

TWICE IN A BLUE MOON by Cate Masters

Publish Date: 1/19/2015

About 48,000 words

Can true love strike twice?

After the death of her first love, Melanie
Michaels buries her grief in the risky demands of a reality show, where her
extreme stunts leave her teetering on the edge of danger. That’s exactly where
she wants to be—until she arranges for her crew to traverse the Swedish Lapland
in the dead of winter. It’s the one place she shouldn’t go, on the one day she
should avoid—her would-be wedding anniversary.

Instead of romantic nights spent in the Ice
Hotel or under the Northern Lights, Melanie is stuck with Joe “Buck” Wright, a
snarky loner tour guide who loves his sled dogs and nothing and no one else.
But Buck is also trying to numb a painful past. Can two people skilled at
pushing others away find warmth at the edge of the Arctic?

Lillian Dellacourt is beautiful, refined and
absolutely lethal. She’s also the most feared and merciless demon hunter in The
Company. She’s come a long way from the penniless seamstress’s daughter sold to
the highest bidder, and it wasn’t by trusting a man, let alone an exiled
Marquis with more on his mind than slaying the hellspawn . . .

For
Dorian Lambert, Marquis de Montalembert, being sent to keep track of Lillian is
no mean task. He’s wanted the fiery vixen since he first heard of her five
years ago. But wooing the lady while fighting the demon uprising is no easy
feat, especially when the lady’s tongue is as sharp as the Japanesesaiblades she favors for
eviscerating the spawn of hell.

These two will have to learn to trust each other fast,
because the demon master is back, and he’s planning to turn Edinburgh into a
living hell…

A.S.
Fenichel gave up a successful career in New York City to follow her husband to
Texas and pursue her lifelong dream of being a professional writer. She’s never
looked back.

A.S. adores writing
stories filled with love, passion, desire, magic and maybe a little mayhem
tossed in for good measure. Books have always been her perfect escape and she
still relishes diving into one and staying up all night to finish a good story.

Multi-published
in erotic paranormal, contemporary and historical romance, A.S. is the author
of the Mayan Destiny series, Christmas Bliss and many more. With several books
currently contracted to multiple publishers, A.S. will be bringing you her
brand of romance for many years to come.

Originally
from New York, she grew up in New Jersey, and now lives in the East Texas with
her real life hero, her wonderful husband. When not reading or writing she
enjoys cooking, travel, history, and puttering in her garden.